The Fingernails are Flying

Proverbs 16:24 Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

I'm not one to waste time. When I found myself waiting on Scott for thirty minutes this afternoon, I decided to clip Clara and Carynne's fingernails. 

One moment I'm feeling jazzed about my organizational skills and productivity.  The next second my eye is screaming.  A stray clipping flew through the air and weaseled its' way through my eyelids for a direct hit on my eyeball.

This morning I read Psalm 39.  David is practicing the art of holding his tongue.  Perhaps he remembered sitting on Great-Grandma Ruth's (see the book of Ruth) knee and hearing her say, "If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all."

This adage sounds like expert advice.  Practicing this bit of wisdom is giving David a case of serious heart burn.  "But when I was silent and still, not even saying anything good, my anguish increased.  My heart grew hot within me, and as I meditated, the fire burned." (Verses 2-3). 

Notice David's anxiety was caused by not saying good things.  God's standards blow mine out of the water.  If I'd penned the Bible, I'd have awarded a crown to anyone who managed to hold their tongue when faced with an enemy.  God's bar is not to hold your tongue but to spew kindness in response to venom.

When the fingernail infiltrated my eye, nothing could keep me from removing it.  All I could think was...Get. It. Out.  Immediately!  What if my guttural response to unkind words hurled at me was words of blessing and peace?  What if God's speech pattern was so ingrained, it naturally came out of me as instinctively as I got the culprit out of my eye.

Hours later my eye still aches.  Isn't that what happens when I release careless words?  They land on the heart of others, fold themselves between the layers and cause hurt for hours or even days.

Jesus, I surrender my mouth to You.  Help me do more than hold my tongue.  May the words flying out of my mouth today bring healing and sweetness to the hearer. 

I Want to Know:  What's been flying out of your mouth lately?